ASCO Provides Backdrop to Upcoming Cancer Documentary

06 Aug 2013 6:38 PM

Documentary, to debut in 2015, based on bestselling book The Emperor of All Maladies

The story of cancer encompasses thousands
of years, innumerable individuals,
disheartening setbacks, and life-saving
scientific discoveries. A new documentary
in production plans to illuminate
the history of cancer care, contemporary
triumphs in disease management,
and the future promise of cancer
genomics and molecular biology.

CANCER: The Emperor of All Maladies
will premiere in spring 2015 as a six-hour,
three-part series on PBS. The
project is helmed by two giants in
the world of documentary film-making:
executive producer and creative
consultant Ken Burns (The Civil War;
The National Parks: America’s Best
Idea) and director and producer Barak
Goodman (The American Experience;
Clinton).

The film is based on the Pulitzer
Prize–winning book The Emperor of
All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by
Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, PhD, and its
creation weaves together three personal
stories of people affected by cancer.
Sharon Percy Rockefeller, President
and CEO of WETA (the Washington, DC,
PBS flagship station) read The Emperor
of All Maladies while undergoing treatment
for colorectal cancer and worked
to obtain the film rights. Mr. Burns was
inspired to join the project in honor of
his mother, who passed away from cancer
when he was just 11 years old. Television
journalist and personality Katie
Couric, who lost both her husband and
sister to cancer, is also supporting the
film as well as a related educational
outreach project through PBS.

These personal stories, and those of
everyone affected by cancer, are the
backbone of the film, according to Mr.
Goodman. “How this disease impacts
real people is always front and center
in our minds, and we’re taking a very
patient-centric view of the story, even as we look back through history,” he
said. The three parts of the series will
weave the past, present, and future of
cancer care into one narrative, “telling
stories through the eyes of people
going through the cancer journey.”

As with the book, the filmmakers found
themselves guided by the concept of
“biography” in approaching the story,
with a focus on the human drama of
innovative researchers and countless
patients who advanced scientific
knowledge through clinical trials. Mr.
Goodman, whose documentary background
is primarily in historical and
political subjects, called the immersion
in cancer science “a surprising, exciting
journey. It’s thrilling to understand why
the world-famous researchers we’re
interviewing are so excited, so passionate,
and so committed to their work.
We’re unlocking the deepest secrets of
the human body and marveling at the
complexity of it,” he said.

The 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago,
Illinois, served as one venue for
the documentary team’s education, as
well as a location for filming. “Visually,
it’s a clear depiction of the number of
people involved in attacking this disease,
and the sheer number of resources
that are brought to bear on it,” Mr.
Goodman said. As the world’s premier
meeting in oncology, ASCO’s Annual
Meeting also served as the ideal backdrop
to interview many of the foremost
international experts on cancer and an
opportunity to hear some of the most
significant advances in cancer research
worldwide.

Translating the incredible scientific and
historical detail and epic scope of the
nearly 600-page book into a six-hour
film “is challenging, there’s no question
about it, but we don’t want to skimp on
the science,” Mr. Goodman said. “People
in the field know what an exciting
moment this is in the history of cancer
research, and it’s important to us to
convey to our audience that there has
been a threshold crossed and a scientific
barrier breached.”

The film will explore the “genomic revolution”
and scientific breakthroughs
that have led to an improved understanding
of cancer at the molecular
level and, ultimately, improved treatments
and patient care. In addition,
the film will engage with contemporary
policy issues related to cancer care,
such as access to care, health disparities,
drug shortages, cost of care, and
research funding, to provide a complete
picture of the economic and legislative
climate in which progress against
cancer is currently taking place.

The ultimate message of the film will
be one of “optimism,” Mr. Goodman
said. “One of our paramount goals is
to demystify cancer, to make it a less
fearsome, less terrifying word.”

Visit emperorofallmaladies.org for
more information and the latest news
on the film, and to view a short preview
featuring Ken Burns and Dr.
Siddhartha Mukherjee.